Biodegradation of styrofoam waste by ligninolytic fungi and bacteria

Styrofoam wastes are composed of many polymerized styrene monomers that are generally considered to be recalcitrant and are resistant to biodegradation. In this study, the ability of ligninolytic fungi and bacteria were investigated on degradation of styrofoam wastes. All the fungi and bacteria used were able to grow on agar media containing styrofoam. Fungi Cymatoderma dendriticum WM01, Ceriporia sp. BIOM3, and Pestalotiopsis sp. NG007 degraded 15.7%, 19.4%, and 74.4% styrofoam within 30 d, respectively. Cerratia marcescens BLSP4, Bacillus subtilis BLSP4, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa BLSP4 degraded 38.3%, 52.6%, and 63.4% styrofoam, respectively. SEM analysis demonstrated the appearance of micro pore in styrofoams treated with Pestalotiopsis sp. NG007 and P. aeruginosa indicating biodegradation. In addition, analysis using UATR FTIR corroborated removal of some functional groups from the degraded styrofoam were eliminated. This study showed strains of ligninolytic fungi and selected bacteria have the potential to be used in bioremediation of styrofoam wastes.